Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Avitas

    Past Contributor
    • Posts

      1,641
    • Joined

    • Last visited

    Posts posted by Avitas

    1. And my only other WHW item (besides a sketchy document I have always suspected to be a fake, but haven't scanned or posted yet) is this interesting WHW Mutter und Kind 1934 cloth pin. It is similar to the ribbon Jamie showed in construction method and materials. It has very crisp details with the gold and is in near mint condition.

      It's about time someone started a thread on the Winterhilfswerk organization! This organization isn't talked about as much as it's military and police counterparts (probably because of the lack of "danger" associated with it), but it is an interesting study nonetheless. A picture that sticks out in my mind from one of my books is an early pic of a Stahlhelm group with it's small armoured car (with totenkopf painted on the side) carrying donation pails for the WHW to "combat hunger and cold."

      Pat

    2. Such a wide variety of items for the WHW, very nice pieces made out of many different types of materials! It really shows how they appealed to all types for donations and were definitely a "civilian" type of organization, or at least that's the face of it. I have a couple pieces to donate to the thread, first up is a Winterhilfe 44/45 Snowflake pendant? that was apparently available for the supporters and Germans in France and Italy as well judging by the inscription on the reverse in three languages. Here are some pics of it.

      Cheers,

      Pat

    3. And lastly for this set of 2 Luftschutz Gas Masks from Willi and "RRJSemor?" Moller, we have a few markings on the 2nd gas mask to figure out. On the side of the front is a fairly prominent orange Wehrmacht eagle with the letters "WaA533" written beneath it (shown in pic below) and on the opposite side a large orange "G". I believe this is the official army stamp and what depot it is from, but any clarification is great. Also, in the very blurry pic, is the best shot I could get of the tiny black Nazi eagle and the numbers and letters "1007Z0" "W" and "M21R" all close to the eagle. There are a few more faded numbers around but hopefully those ones can shed some light.

      Well thanks for having a look at these neat masks and if you can help out with any of the questions or maker marks it would be greatly appreciated as I would like to find out all I can on them, and the two brothers who owned them. I know I have typed quite a few cryptic codes here, but I am confident somone knows what they all mean. Again, I think they are Luftschutz, but please correct me if I am wrong and any extra info on these Gas masks is a great help as well.

      Cheers :beer:

      Pat

    4. Next up we have a close-up of the front markings on the box, under the "VM", and "M". It is almost identical to what Willi's says, but a different first number. Here is the transcrpition the best I can:

      RL1-39/87 (also maker mark?)

      Vertrieb gemas & 8 (contains german symbols that I do not have on my keyboard, again)

      Lufstschutzgesetz genehmigt

      The writing is much clearer on this pic, so it should be easier to see what German symbols I am talking about and hopefully translate the text.

      Also here we have the respirator of the second Moller brother, "RJ", with all of its plainly visible markings and Eagle stamp. Please lend your expertise if you can put some meaning to all of the numbers, I am at a loss :(:speechless:

      Thanks for looking and for any help!

      Pat

    5. Here is a shot of the complete set, in its box of "RJ"?, "RO", (we'll just call him RJ until someone can decipher the name) Moller's. As you can see, it is slightly larger than the first gas mask shown. The pic of the inside is also for further reference, and the goggles are marked "byd1941 nennseite(?) Gussn.7/166 01" on the inside of the lens. Again, if any expert out there can let me know what all of these markings mean, it would be a great help.

      Cheers and thanks for any help,

      Pat

    6. Thanks Larry, here they are :beer:

      This 1942 Canadian Gas Mask in original box is unused and in almost mint shape, except the lid on the box is ripped off, but present. It is a size large and is marked quite well. I think this is the one that goes with the respirator pouch previously talked about. The respirator is marked "6 7 42" which I assume is the date of manufacture and has the "C" with the arrow through it designating it as a Canadian issue. Here are some pics.

      Cheers,

      Pat

    7. Next we have a pic of the respirator, with many visible markings. The goggles are marked 1941 on the glass so I assume that is when this was made, but maybe some of these markings can tell us exactly if anyone knows how to decipher them. Also we have a pic of Willi Moller's signature along the edge of the respirator, adds some stark reality to the item and I wonder if this gentleman and his yet unnamed brother can be researched? Their is a faint signature of "Wilhelm Moller" on the top left corner of the top of the box as well.

      Cheers and thanks for any help on any of the above posts with deciphering the stamps and markings or any other info that you can add. I will return in a few minutes to post the rest of the set with the other gas mask.

      Pat

    8. Here is a shot of the set of Willi Mollers gas mask. I would assume these brothers were in the Luftschutz, but possibly HJ as their signatures look a little juvenile (as you will see later). Any help on this question would be great. This one is in a slightly used condition with some of the markings rubbed almost completely off, but many remain. The second pic shows one of the stamps which has the Nazi eagle and "W?/A 750" or something like that written beside it. It is located on the inside along the edge. There are also markings of "A-W-D 14" and "15" in the inside and another Nazi eagle on the front side in an orange colour with the letters "WaA104" beside the eagle. If anyone can decipher or explain these markings please do.

      Cheers,

      Pat

    9. I will start in detail on the first mask, the one marked "K" and belonging to Willi Moller, the smaller and more used of the two. Here are the markings, kind of hard to see so I will transcribe it here:

      RL1-39/86 (which I believe is the maker mark)

      Vertrieb gemas & 8 (contains german symbols that I do not have on my keyboard)

      Lufstschutzgesetz genehmigt

      Any translation of these markings and any explanation on their meaning is very helpful.

      Pat

    10. Hello everyone,

      I just finished taking some pics of my recently acquired pair of Luftschutz gas masks that belonged to a pair of brothers. One was named Wilhelm (Willi) Moller and his brother's is really hard to read, but maybe we can decipher it later on when I show the pic of his signature. On the front of the boxes they are both marked with large "VM" and then Willi's is marked for size "K" which I assume stands for kleine, or small, and the other is marked "M" I assume for medium, as it is larger than the one marked "K". I guess it will be easier to explain the details as I show the pics, so here it goes. First up is a pic of the complete set in their boxes.

      Cheers,

      Pat

    11. There are several different sized League pins. I guess it was for different forms of dress.

      Does anyone else collect this kind of stuff or is it just me?

      Cam

      You're not alone Cam, I too collect the old Canadian Legion items as well. I have a few BESL 1920's pins posted on my thread on Commonwealth militari in this forum as well as a VetCraft cardboard poppy and a few other Legion items (a ww2 era cap badge is also displayed in my Canadian cap badge thread). My grandfather is still very active with the Legion here in BC so it is only natural that I enjoy the old Legion stuff! I really enjoyed looking at your sets, nice to see them kept together to tell the whole story. I don't have any of the Class pins yet but I will be on he lookout for sure.

      Cheers and thanks for showing your great Canadian militaria

      :beer:

      Pat

    12. Thank you Stephen for that great information :beer:

      I was wondering what uniform these would have been worn on in the DAF, if anyone can help out please do. Also, are these fairly common or hard to find? I don't imagine they would be very valuable (I paid like 7 bucks each for them, probably too much, but I like to support my local antique store) but they are a neat little item to have in the collection.

      Cheers and thanks again,

      Pat

    13. It doesn't look like these pouches have changed in design at all Larry, your modern example is almost exactly the same as my 1943 example. I do have a ww2 Canadian light respirator that fits perfectly in the kit bag, so that is a nice set. I will be taking some pics of the Canadian respirator (1943 issue as well) and my recently acquired pair of ww2 German respirators in their original Luftschutzgeschetz cardboard box and posting them soon.

      Cheers and thanks for looking,

      Pat

    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.